


When the World Falls Apart (I will hold you in my arms)

by silversass



Category: Pitch Perfect
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Apocalypse, Character Death, Enemies to Friends, Multi, Romance, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2019-02-17
Packaged: 2019-08-02 00:39:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16294994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silversass/pseuds/silversass
Summary: Having lost all their friends and family when the virus first broke out, Beca Mitchell's sole purpose in this new apocalyptic world is to keep herself and Emily alive, no matter what.But what happens when a particular redhead enters her life and disrupts all her plans?





	1. Chapter 1

 It’s been sixty eight hours and thirty four minutes since Beca left.

Emily has been using her father’s leather watch to time her since the second she left their dingy, hideout apartment, handgun and hunting knife in tow. The more time the passes, the tighter the knot in Emily’s stomach becomes.  
They have a deal – if the one person doesn’t come back after seventy two hours, the other needs to move on. It’s not safe to stay anywhere longer than three days, especially by oneself. That’s what Beca says anyway – they learned it the hard way with Aubrey.

However, Emily’s not really sure what to do if Beca doesn’t show up in the next three hours and twenty six minutes. Beca is the only thing Emily has left in this world that she cares about, she’s also the only reason she’s managed to live this long.

When the virus first broke out, people said it was the end of the world.  A few months later though, the world doesn’t really seem to be ending, just changing. Drastically. Only the strongest survive, and Emily is positive that she won’t survive a day without Beca’s strength.

If Beca doesn’t come back, Emily’s heart might just stop. If she _does_ come back, Emily will unleash fury like no other on Beca for leaving her for this long. Since the outbreak, the longest they’ve been apart was twelve hours – and that’s a dark memory that Emily refuses to even talk with Beca about.

 

A scurry of footsteps on the wooden floorboards of the hallway outside distracts Emily from her thoughts. She’s sitting with her back to the wall that’s directly opposite the front door of the apartment they’ve been camping out in, now afraid to make any movement in case it alerts the whoever is outside, of her presence.

She hopes and prays that Beca has returned.

 

Two quick knocks sound on the door.

Emily closes her eyes and waits for the third knock.

 

“ _Em, it’s me_!” Beca hisses as her knuckles rap on the wood one last time.

Emily scrambles across the room and unhinges the door as fast as her fingers will allow. She practically flings herself at the small brunette waiting on the other side.

“Ugh get off me you goofball!” Beca half laughs as she pulls the two of them inside of the apartment and shuts the door softly behind. Emily pulls away, tears streaming down her face. A scowl now resides on her face.

“You were gone three days Beca! Three whole days.”

“I know,” Beca sighs and rubs Emily’s arm apologetically. “I got held up. There was a cross fire between two gangs in the next town over. I couldn’t leave until it was safe. People out there are scary, Em.”

“There were some outside. I heard them in the next building, they were looking for supplies.”

“Oh my god, are you okay? Did they come here?”

“I just sat in the attic. Beca I was so scared,” Emily sobs. “Please, don’t leave me again. Let me come with you next time.”

Emily’s whole body is shaking at this point. Beca wraps her in a tight hug. “Em, I’m so sorry. I just wanted you to be safe. It was so stupid of me, I’ll never leave you again okay?”

“Beca, if you had died out there-“

“I know.”

 

It doesn’t seem like all that long since her last near encounter with death, Beca isn’t ready to put Emily in that state of anxiety again.

 

“Look,” the older brunette takes a khaki duffle bag that Emily has never seen before off her shoulder and places it on the floor. “I found some stuff – ammo, a first aid kit, water.”

Emily narrows her eyes, “We had plenty of that stuff already.”

“Not true,” Beca smiles awkwardly, “I needed more bandages.”

“Bandages for what?” Emily hisses in response. Beca rolls her eyes as she slowly pulls up top to reveal some bloody bandages wrapped tightly around her waist.

Emily is livid. “Is that a gunshot wound?”

“Of course not,” Beca smirks. “It’s from when I got caught in a fence while trying to run away from the guns.”

   Her young companion clenches her fists to stop herself from screaming. “You think this is funny? You could have _died_ Beca! And for what? A few more bullets? You have absolutely no idea how scared I was, but you don’t seem to care that much either.”

Having only gotten five hours sleep over the past three nights, Beca doesn’t have the energy or patience to deal with Emily’s tantrums right now.

“I tried my best Emily, like I always do to provide for you. I’ve said sorry so I’m not going to sit around and listen to you whine. If you’re not even going to help me with my bandages, go pack up your stuff. We’re getting out of this place in ten minutes.”

Emily lets out a huff before stomping upstairs to retrieve her belongings.

 

* * *

 

Beca has finally had it. She lets out a sigh of frustration and turns around to face Emily, who’s dragging her feet along the dirt road.

“Can we be done with this silent treatment now?” Beca asks. Emily lifts her gaze from the floor to meet Beca’s. She’s still scowling slightly, but it’s effect has worn out on Beca.

“Em, I said I’m sorry. It was stupid and reckless. I shouldn’t have scared you like that, I know, but come on, can we just get over it? I can’t live with you being angry with me anymore.”

   It’s been a day and a half since they left the apartment. Emily hasn’t said anything. Not even when Beca was trying to decide what to eat for dinner yesterday, or when they were setting up the tent to camp out or when it was Beca’s turn to take over watch last night – Emily just coughed loudly until Beca woke up then crawled into the sleeping bag and closed her eyes without muttering a single word. 

Beca has never seen Emily this angry or hurt, so she’s decided to quit being stubborn and win Emily back, even if it means begging for forgiveness.

Emily purses her lips. “Are you really sorry?” She asks, childlike.

“Yes Em. How many times do you need me to say it?”

Emily sighs, she knows being a pain in the ass now but she also needs Beca to realise the seriousness of the matter. “Becs, I thought you weren’t going to come back. I thought you were dead. I couldn’t go on if you did. ”

Beca places a hand on her shoulder. “Em, I’m sorry. You know I’ll never let anything happen to you right?”

“But at what cost to yourself Beca? You can’t let anything happen to yourself either.”

They walk a bit further in silence, Emily now walking side by side with Beca. “So, are we still going east?” The younger girl questions.

“I suppose so,” Beca sighs. It hadn’t been easy deciding to completely revise the route she had spent weeks working out, but Aubrey had been so adamant they listen to her.

 

_"Virginia! You need to go to Virginia Beca!”_

Beca can still hear Aubrey’s screams so vividly in her head, the last words she would ever hear the blonde girl say and the way they rang through the sewer tunnels while Beca did nothing but run in the opposite direction. It still makes her feel sick to this day.

Aubrey never really explained what exactly awaited them in McLean, she just said it was waiting for her in the apartment complex her father owned. She had even told Beca the address of said target destination.  Not having be able to save her life, Beca feels she owes it to the blonde that had been so generous to shelter and protect them when Emily was ill, to complete the journey for her.

 

“I reckon we’re not too far.”

“How long?” Emily looks exhausted. Beca’s convinced she was only pretending to snore last night so Beca wouldn’t try get her to talk.

“Maybe three or four hours if we find a car and a clear road.” Beca stops abruptly on the side of the road to pull out two power bars from her backpack and hands one to Emily. “You think you can hang in that long or do you need to stop?”

“No, let’s keep going,” Emily smiles. Beca can’t help but admire the younger girl’s determination.

Satisfied that she’s managed to win Emily back, Beca sets her mind on their next task - finding a car. She’s stolen, and subsequently abandoned, so many vehicles along the way - never wanting to keep one for too long in fear it would draw attention to them. She just needs one that will take them as far as McLean, before dumping that one too.

 

“Beca, look!”

Down the hill from them, on the side of the road stands a boarded up, gas station with at least half a dozen cars scattered around it.

 _Perfect._ Beca smiles to herself. At least one of them has to have enough gas to get them by.

If their luck continues at this rate, they’ll hit their destination by sunset.

 

Maybe once they get to McLean, they’ll find what Aubrey was so desperate to find, and then maybe Beca might finally be able to forgive herself for her death.


	2. Chapter 2

The apartment got colder overnight, Beca notices as she scrambles to find her black sweatshirt. Beside her, the other brunette seems to be unaffected by the drop in temperature and continues to snore gently into her pillow. Knowing how long it’s been since their last night of undisrupted sleep, Beca allows her companion to sleep on and decides to take on the task of finding breakfast herself.

Dusk had just begin to cast its shadows when they rolled into McLean two evenings ago in the beat up truck they salvaged from the side of the road, just outside of Virginia. It didn’t take long for them to find the apartment complex Aubrey had talked about. Surrounded by large steel gates and twelve foot high walls, Beca could understand why Aubrey wanted to come here. There was no chance of any dead getting inside. However Beca wasn’t convinced that this was the only reason Aubrey was willing to travel here all the way from Atlanta.

Once they managed to scale the walls, they found the back entrance Aubrey had mentioned – the one with the combination lock on the door. The code was Aubrey’s birthday, just like she told them. Beca dragged Emily and their belongings to the penthouse apartment on the top floor. The enormous windows of the master bedroom gave them a great vantage point of the suspiciously silent town below.

Beca rustles through the kitchen cupboards downstairs, scanning the shelves for non-perishable food of some kind. She holds her breath in attempt to avoid the God-awful odors that emanate from brown, shriveled packages she thinks may have held food at one stage. At last, behind what appears to be a tattered cereal box that has been attacked by mice, she finds a tin can of peaches. Although she never really cared much for fruit or vegetables in the Old Days, her mouth can’t help but salivate at the sight – it’s been a long time since they found something this sweet.

In the fridge, Beca finds four water bottles that are long since chilled but see unopened and therefore, drinkable. She takes them from the fridge and slides them into the front pouch of her backpack just as Emily arrives, wearing her raincoat over her bedclothes.

“Why didn’t you wake me?” Emily asks with a yawn  
“I didn’t see any reason to. Besides we don’t know when we’ll next get a full night’s sleep.”  
Emily scrunches her eyebrows as she looks at Beca’s backpack. “Wait, we’re leaving? Why? I thought we were staying a while.”

“I don’t know Em,” Beca huffs. “This town is eerily quiet, there’s got to be reason there’s no zombies around. Somebody must have gotten here before us. Maybe they have whatever Aubrey was looking for. They’re probably the reason why we’ve found very few supplies. We should finish searching the other apartments in the building but I think we should aim to be out of here by late afternoon before we draw any attention to ourselves.”  
They’ve spent the last few days searching the surrounding stores and houses for any item that could be of value to them, but they all looked like they’d been cleared out a long time ago. But Beca still can’t shake the paranoia that they are not alone in this town, and If someone has claimed this town already, they’ll quickly notice the rusty blue Chevy that’s suddenly appeared out of nowhere.  
Emily pouts, “But Beca, we’re safe here. We’re hidden.”  
“As far as we know Emily, somebody could know this town inside out. Two nights here is enough, I think we should move on. I just have a really bad feeling about this place. Whatever Aubrey wanted us to find here is clearly gone. We would have found it by now.”

  
Emily lets out an audible sigh which Beca pretends to ignore as she places the can of tinned fruit in front of her young friend. “Here, breakfast.”  
Emily’s eyes instantly light up as Beca opens the can with her pocket knife and reveals the bright, orange contents.  
“Oh wow!” Emily squeals. “It’s so colourful!”  
“Just eat the damn fruit,” Beca rolls her eyes, tossing Em a fork.

“Where do we go from here?” Emily asks, with a mouthful of peaches.  
“We revert back to the original plan I guess,”Beca shrugs. Canada still seems like a better option than any other.

* * *

 

  
After they finish eating, Emily informs Beca of her plans to raid some warm jumpers from a wardrobe she spotted in an apartment some flights down. Beca offers her a gun, but Emily politely declines.  
“I won’t be going far, I’ll be fine without it,” She assures. Beca frowns, but holds on to the gun to herself anyway.  
“Fine, I’m going to have another look at the apartment downstairs, just please holler if you need me .okay?”  
Emily smiles and nods contently before exiting the front door. Beca follows her to the staircase, but only takes it as far as the next floor down.

She inhales deeply as she lets the narrow hallway lead her to apartment number twelve, and gently pushes the unlocked front door open.  
The kitchen/living room is decorated in cool, pastel colours. Everything’s perfectly in place, even the large collection of CD’s, beside a rather impressive home entertainment system, is organised completely alphabetically A-Z. Beca would have expected nothing less from Aubrey.

Aubrey explained how she rarely spent any time in McLean once she left for college, having found a new sense of freedom she often found it difficult to return to her strict, overbearing parents. So she came to a compromise with them, in exchange for visits home at the holidays, her father agreed to give her her own apartment, so she could still have her own space. Beca could totally relate on the whole “needing space from your parents” thing, it was one of the first things they found in common with each other.  
When Beca first met Aubrey, she thought she could never meet a more polar opposite to her, but the more time they spent trapped in that attic in Atlanta, she discovered they were more alike than she could have ever imagined.

Beca moves towards a low bookcase behind one of Aubrey’s pale blue sofas, noticing a series of framed photos standing on top. The first photo is of Aubrey as a toddler, being cradled in her mother’s arms and her father standing proudly in his army uniform beside her. Beca can’t help but smile at how much Aubrey resembled her mother.  
The next two photos are obviously taken from Aubrey’s college graduation - the first being Aubrey joined by some of her college friends that she talked so often, and so fondly about. She had admitted to Beca, in tears, about how she was afraid they were all dead. In the picture they're all ll donned in their graduate caps and gowns. The next is one of Aubrey alone, beaming brightly and proudly as she’s throwing her cap into the air.  
It warms Beca’s heart to know Aubrey could have once been this happy.

She’s not sure why, but she feels a sudden desire to take some of these photos with her. She hasn’t got much else to remember the girl who she owes her and Emily’s lives to. She carefully removes the photos from their frames, and slides them into the front pocket of her backpack.

She places her gun and bag on the kitchen counter, before opening the door to Aubrey’s bedroom. The room is practically empty apart from the large bed in the middle that looks like it’s barely ever been slept in. The huge wardrobe near the windows holds nothing more than some old winter coats and a few pairs of shoes.

A decorative glass bowl is placed on her nightstand, holding some pieces of jewellery and assorted keys. Beca brings the bowl back into the light of the kitchen to inspect it’s contents further. Upon closer look, she realises one of the sets of keys is for a motorcycle. Beca would never have pegged Aubrey as that type of girl.

_“Beca! Help !”_

Beca loses grip of the glass bowl at the sudden sound of Emily’s desperate cry from somewhere downstairs. The bowl crashes to the floor, inevitably smashing into smithereens, but Beca pays no attention as she grabs her gun from the counter and hurries towards the staircase.

Emily cries out for her again, and this time Beca can pinpoint her location to the apartment two floors down. She scrambles down the staircase and right through the open door of the apartment where she sees Emily being held hostage by a redheaded woman, who is currently pressing a pocket knife firmly to Emily’s throat.

“Hey!” Beca raises her gun. “Let go of her.”  
“Drop the gun, then we’ll talk,” the redhead spits back. Beca looks from her to Emily, who’s staring at her with pleading eyes.  
Beca hesitantly lowers the gun and places it on the floor in front of her. The minute she stands back up, the door through which she enters slams shut, revealing a tall, leggy brunette who was hiding behind it. The brunette glares at Beca with utter disdain.  
“I dropped the gun." Beca snarls, "Now let her go.”  
She curses herself for having fallen into this trap, now she has no weapon to defend herself or Emily. She prays desperately that the strangers' bark is worse than their bite.  
“Not so fast,” the fiery redhead spits back. “Tell us what the hell you two are doing here?”

  
Beca frowns in confusion. There shouldn’t be other people here, not inside the apartment building at least. Yet these girls seem very territorial, how could they have known about this place and how to get inside? Aubrey said nobody else would know about this place except her closest family and friends…  
  
“Wait…Chloe?”

Emily’s captor’s mouth falls slightly, she looks from her companion who’s standing by the door back to Beca.  
“Who are you? And how do you know my name?” The redhead’s knife stays pressed against Emily’s throat.  
“I’m, well, I was a friend of Aubrey’s.”

Aubrey had mentioned a number of her girl friends from college, and while Beca definitely couldn't remember that many names, she could certainly recall the name Aubrey seemed to mention more than any other - her ginger best friend,Chloe Beale.  
“Aubrey?” The redhead frowns.  
“Yeah,uhmm, Posen?” Beca offers, only causing the redhead to roll her eyes and point her knife towards Beca instead. Emily clutches her throat in relief.  
“How do you know Aubrey?” Chloe demands. Beca backs away slightly, her eyes solely focused on the blade tip aimed at her face.  
“We met some months ago,” she stammers. “We traveled together. She told me about you, She-“

  
Beca is cut off by a tight grip at her throat. The brunette who had been guarding the door suddenly has pinned her against the wall.  
“What did you do to her?” Chloe’s companion is hissing in her face. Beca only begins to panic when she feels the cold metal muzzle of her own handgun pressed firmly to her temple.

“You have ten seconds to tell us or we blow your brains out.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Jesus Stacie, calm it down a bit,” Chloe sighs but Stacie’s hold on Beca’s throat doesn’t loosen.  
“I don’t know,” Beca chokes as she struggles to breathe. “We got separated. I don’t know-“  
“Let her go!” Emily begs their captors, no longer able to bear the sight of her adoptive sister struggle. “Please, Aubrey was our friend. We didn’t hurt her, I promise.”  
“Oh yeah Giraffe? Then where is she? How should we believe you?” Stacie replies, letting go of Beca so she can face the younger girl instead.  
“Don’t talk to her like that you bitch,” Beca snarls, grabbing the brunette by her ponytail and dragging her to the ground. Stacie is quick to grab onto Beca’s ankle and pull her down alongside her. Beca lets out an angry groan.

  
“Beca, no! It’s not worth it,” Emily cries.  
“Will one of you just please explain to me where Aubrey is?” Chloe snaps.  
“We told you, we don’t know.” Beca answers coldly as she picks herself up from the ground and places herself between Chloe and Emily. Emily subtly wraps her arms around one of Beca’s.

“We got separated by a hoard back in Atlanta. She said she had to run back to get something. I begged her otherwise. She didn’t listen. We tried to find her, but the hoard started closing in on us.”  
“So you left her to die?”

  
Beca’s growing weary of Chloe’s judgmental speeches. They’ve no idea what she and Emily have been through. Not a fucking clue.

  
“She’s the one who ran back! She knew the danger. I have to take care of my own,” Beca hisses.  
Chloe looks to the younger girl cowering behind Beca, despite being almost a foot taller.  
“Are you two sisters?” She asks tonelessly.  
“Not biologically. But Emily is my family, and I will do anything I have to do to protect her.” Beca says it like a threat, Emily smiles bashfully at this comment all the same and hides her face into the back of Beca’s leather jacket.

Meanwhile, Chloe narrows her eyes at them.  “You see Aubrey was like that to me, she was my best friend. My sister. I’m not surprised she told you about me. We were family. What does surprise me is that you were close enough that she would tell you about me, yet you don’t even seem to care in the slightest that you’ve no idea where she is.”

  
Stacie is the one to notice Emily’s grip on Beca’s arm tightening, and her other hand raising to rub Beca’s back comfortingly. Beca’s eyes drop to the floor, she refuses to give these two girls an explanation.

  
“Did you kill Aubrey?” Chloe asks bluntly.  
Emily’s face falls. “Kill her? No! Of course not! What Beca said is the truth!”  
“Then why am I having such a hard time believing you?”  
“Look I don’t care if you believe me or not Chloe,” Beca snaps. “But do you honestly think Aubrey would tell us about this place if she didn’t trust us? Or tell us about your entire friendship - how you met when you were fourteen and have been best friends ever since, how you went to college together and became roommates and how you forced her to audition for that singing group with you? I tried my best to save her Chloe, I really did.”

Chloe stares back at her wide eyed, taking a moment to process this before her face completely crumbles. A loud, angry sob escapes her throat.  
Stacie quickly rushes to her side, wrapping her in her arms. “Ssh Chlo,” she whispers into her ear. “I’ve got you.”  
“It’s not fair!” Chloe wails. “She was supposed to come here! Not you! She was supposed to survive!”

Beca can feel her gut twist with guilt as she watches the two friends console each other. The sentiment is short lived however as she notices the knife still clenched in Chloe’s hand.  
She reaches behind her to grab Emily’s hand, only for her companion to give her a puzzled look.  
“Em, we need to get out of here before sundown.”

“Beca! We can’t leave them like this! Look how distraught they are!”

“Emily we need to keep going, there’s clearly nothing here for us to find.”  
“Don’t you realise Beca? They are what Aubrey sent us here to find.”

Beca stares back at her, baffled. Aubrey had said her friends were more than likely dead, so why would she still send them here?

She’s distracted by a sudden thud behind her. Stacie lets out a cry of pain as her fist meets the wallpaper. She’s cursing and mumbling so fast that Beca can’t make out a word, but can tell by her expression, that it would be safest to stay away from the tall brunette in her current state of rage. Emily, however seems oblivious to this as she anxiously approaches the two strangers.

“Emily!” Beca hisses. “What the hell are you doing? Get back here.”  
Emily just shakes her head slightly before reaching a hand out towards Stacie’s shoulder.  
“I know you might not want to hear this from us right now. But I’d really like to help you in someway if I could. Aubrey was really kind to us , I’d like to give back.We have plenty of weapons, and also first aid supplies if you guys need them. “

Beca can’t believe what she’s hearing - does Emily not remember the blade that was pressing into her skin not even ten minutes ago.? Stacie just stares down at the younger girl, expressionless while Chloe’s tearful gaze is directed towards Beca.

“Umm, maybe you want some bandages for your hand?” Emily practically whispers as she motions to Stacie’s bloody knuckles.  
To Beca, and Emily’s surprise, the brunette lets out a huff and nods. Emily quickly fumbles to take her backpack off her shoulders and pull out a roll of white bandages from the front pocket.

Stacie inhales sharply as the teenager wraps the bandages tightly around her hand, securing it with a tight knot once she’s finished.  
Finally seeing Emily’s face up close, Stacie’s eyes widen. “Shit, you’re just a kid.”  
“I’m seventeen, I don’t know if that classifies me as a child anymore,” Emily shrugs with a gentle laugh.  
Stacie walks away from her, but retires herself on the nearby sofa. She looks from Chloe, to Beca in despair. “I don’t know what to say, I don’t know what you guys want.”

“We don’t want anything. We’re not looking for trouble,” Beca affirms, with some hostility to her tone. “We didn’t mean to intrude , seriously we would not have come here if we’d known it’d be occupied.”  
“You said you had weapons. Where are they?” Stacie asks abruptly. Beca narrows her eyes at Emily, who bites her lip in response.  
“Hidden,” Beca snaps back. She reckons they won’t make it out of here now without some negotiation or trade. “Come on Em, I think we’ve stayed here long enough.”

“Where are you guys going?” Stacie asks.  
“What’s it to you?” Beca snaps in response.  
“Are you always this fucking defensive?” Stacie snarls. “Jesus. Look, we’ve been contemplating leaving. Now that there’s nothing left for us here-”  
Emily winces as the tall brunette chokes up on her words.

  
“Look we need to leave,” Stacie continues after a deep breath. “We never intended on staying here this long either and now we’re almost out of supplies. But we don’t have much to defend ourselves with out there. You guys clearly don’t know the area. It’s not as easy to get out of Virginia as you’d expect. Most roads were barricaded or destroyed bombed in an attempt to stop the spread of disease towards Washington DC. We know a way that will get you to Pennsylvania, if you’re heading North, in returns for some guns and ammo.”

“How the hell do you expect us to trust you?” Beca hisses.  
“We could ask the same. But Aubrey must have really trusted you guys, huh?” Chloe’s voice suddenly enters the mix, her tone is much softer, and sadder than before. “She wouldn’t tell just anyone about this place. Why can’t you give us the same chance?”  
“She was a really good person,” Emily pipes in. “We were really lucky to meet her.”

“Fine.” Beca interrupts.”We’ll trade. But only after you get us on to a clear road.”  
Chloe opens her mouth to argue but closes it again when Stacie places a hand on her shoulder. “Deal.”

  
“Then let’s go. Pack your stuff and lets get out of here before it gets dark.”  
“You expect us to pack up all our belongings, just like that?” Stacie replies.  
“You said you’ve been contemplating leaving for a while, I figured you’d be ready to leave,” Beca shrugs with little sympathy or understanding to her tone. Emily feels a shiver run down her back, she really doesn’t care much for the mean attitude her protector has developed all of a sudden. She’s finding it hard to cope with all the tension surrounding the four of them at present.

“Besides, what exactly do you need to pack except the essentials? We leave in an hour.”

“The journey’s going to be long.” Chloe mumbles. “It could be five hours before we reach the next safe town. We have some food to spare, if you guys are hungry.”  
“We’re not,” Beca snaps back. “You’re not sharing a table with them Emily.”  
“Surely she can make that decision for herself ?” Stacie hisses. Beca can feel her face instantly flush with anger.  
“You tried to kill her, and now you’re speaking on her behalf?”

“Don’t you think I can take care of myself Becs?” Emily finds her voice, but almost immediately regrets her words as she watches Beca’s expression harden.  
“I’m going to pack,” Beca tells her coldly, “be ready to leave when I come back downstairs.”

* * *

 

 Beca loads their bags into the back seat of the blue truck in silence. Emily chews her lip anxiously, knowing her companion is less than impressed with her for trying to form any alliance with Aubrey's friends.

Emily doesn't understand why Beca was being so cruel. Sure, Stacie and Chloe's reaction hadn't been the most welcoming, but couldn't Beca see it from their point of view? They'd been waiting so long for their best friend to show up only to have two strangers show up in her place.

Across the street, Stacie is pouring gas from a fuel can into the red Mustang that once belonged to Aubrey, while Chloe packs in their few items of value. Stacie keeps her eyes firmly on the two girls across the road, more specifically the duffle bag Beca is loading into the trunk, which Stacie assumes to be filled with an assortment of guns and knives.

When the tank is full, she climbs into the driver's seat and starts the car. Chloe's shaking anxiously in the passenger seat beside her. "Hey, you okay?"  
"Yeah," the redhead whispers. "I'm just think about last time we left-"  
"That's not going to happen again Chloe, I'll make sure of it."

 The car creeps out of McLean, the blue truck following a safe distance behind.  Both girls are so wrapped up in their own thoughts that almost a full hour has gone by before Chloe turns to Stacie and speaks.  
"You're taking this surprising well."

The brunette shrugs. "I don't really know how to react Chloe. I mean it's been three months. It's not like we hadn't considered this outcome."  
"I know. But I didn't expect you to be so willing to leave."  
"I didn't see much point in staying there any longer Chlo, we'd just be constantly reminded of her. It wouldn't be healthy, for either of us. These girls might give us an opportunity to survive. You know how badly we need those weapons."

"I don't understand it Stace," Chloe huffs "I mean Emily is sweet as pie, but Beca-"  
"She's got an attitude problem, but she's full of spunk. She's a survivor Chloe. If it turns out we can trust her ,we could do well with her on our side."

  
Chloe lets out another sigh. In all the years she and Aubrey were best friends, she never once trusted her judgement , so why was she so slow to trust her now? She's suspected for some time now that her blonde friend would never make it to them in Virginia, but she would give an arm and a leg just to have her with them right now. She supposes she has no option but to suss this out on her own.

"Wait, where did they go?"

Chloe glances in the rear view mirror only to notice that the blue Chevy is no longer tailing them.


	4. Chapter 4

 

“Beca?” Emily looks to her companion with widened eyes as the brunette swerves the car onto the adjoining road. Beca doesn’t respond, instead she continues driving a few minutes before pulling the car onto the side of the road and cutting out the engine.

“Beca!” Emily shouts again. “What the hell are you doing?”  
“Get out of the car. Grab your bag, lets go.”  
Before Emily can say another word, Beca is outside the car, fastening the straps of her back pack and throwing the duffle bag over her shoulder.  
“Are really just going to leave them behind?” Emily cries, aghast.

Beca turns around and looks her square in the eyes. “You do remember how they almost _killed_ you, yes?”  
“They just held a knife to my throat Bec-“  
“Emily we are not having this argument. We don’t know them Emily, or what they’re capable of!”

“They’re Aubrey’s friends!”

“That means nothing! They were friends a long time ago, before any of this started. They’ve survived this long for a reason. How do we know they’re not leading us into a trap, so they can ambush us and take everything we own? We can’t trust them.”

Emily stops in her tracks, and refuses to move any further. Beca lets out a groan and turns back to the younger girl.  
  
“You said the same thing about Aubrey, you know.”

Emily stares at her intensely, and Beca can already feel the guilt beginning to seep into her heart. Emily’s right. And Beca can’t stand arguing with her.  
“Em, please,” she begs. “We’ve come so far. Look at all the shit we’ve gone through, I can’t put ourselves at unnecessary risk. I will never forgive myself if anything was to happen to you.”  
Emily leans her forehead into Beca’s and takes one of the hands in between her own soft palms. “Beca, please. I know better than to argue with you, you’re the reason I’m still here today, but Becs why are you so insistent on always moving? We don’t even know where we’re going. It’s not like we’re making any progress or achieving anything. Those girls could need our help Beca, we could save them. ”

 

*

“Damnit!” Stacie shouts aggressively, her fist colliding with the horn on the steering well. “Well this is just fucking great!”  
She curses loudly to herself. She should never had trusted those girls to keep up their half of the deal. She should have just forced them into giving up their weapons while they had the upper hand. Beca would probably have handed over the guns in a second if she’d even inflicted the tiniest amount of damage on Emily with her knife.

“What do we do now? Do we chase after them?”  
“We’ve no idea as to when they drove away. They could be anywhere by now. They probably took a turn down some dead-end road and could be torn to pieces by now, for all we know.”  
Chloe grimaces. No matter what steps the government had taken to keep the zombies away around here, none of them had been one hundred percent successful. Hoards still tended to show up every now again.

“So do we keep going?”  
“What other option do we have?”

Stacie continues to curse out loud. Her whole being is consumed by the reality that they’re out in the open, completely exposed with next to nothing to defend themselves with. They don’t even have a bullet between them. She can tell just from her breathing how tense Chloe is right now, knowing she's probably replaying the memories of the last time they ventured more than a few miles outside of McLean. Stacie vowed to her she'd never let themselves get into that type of danger again. Chloe has been her best friend since she began college three years ago, but their friendship is one of the relationships Stacie values most in her life. Even though Chloe is two years older, Stacie's always been the protective one. Knowing Chloe can't always deal with her emotions so well, Stacie usually takes charge , but that's not to say Chloe can't stand her own ground either. They work well as a team, but Stacie could never let any harm come to the redhead. Especially now that she's lost Aubrey.

They need to find some weapons, she reminds herself, and a safe place to lay low before sunset if they’re going to survive the night. Somehow, something tells her that’s not going to be as simple as it sounds.

She turns towards Chloe who has her attention towards the scenes outside their window- scorched fields, broken tarmac, tall metal fences that have ultimately been broken through. The government had really tried everything to keep the undead from getting into Washington D.C - but they never really thought how hard it would be for the living to get out.

***

Two hours later , their Mustang rolls up outside an abandoned town square.

Stacie steps out first, desperate to breathe in some fresh air. Chloe quickly follows suit, making sure to grab her backpack from the back seat.  
“I don’t like the look of this place Stacie.” The redhead whispers to her companion. It’s way too quiet for her liking-  there’s no birds singing, no water spurting from the fountain at the centre of the square, no ticking from the town clock that towers above them, no ringing from the church bells. Frankly, she’s a bit creeped out.

“Come on Chloe,” Stacie sighs. “It’s the first town we’ve passed in miles where the buildings aren’t burned out. Surely that means something, there has to be something around!”  
“We should have pinned that short brunette to the ground and taken her guns while we had the fucking chance,” Chloe mutters under her breath , but it doesn’t go unheard by her companion.  
“Please Chloe,” Stacie snorts. “Your bark has always been bigger than your bite.”

Chloe tries to think of a sharp response, but Stacie is already a couple of yards ahead of her - heading towards what looks to be a supermarket at the corner of the square - it’s windows and doors are completely boarded up.

With nothing more than a dulled pocket knife in her jacket pocket, Chloe guesses she has no other option but to follow her best friend through the foresaken streets.

 

*****

After what seems like endless hours of driving, something in the near distance catches Emily’s attention. A trail of the undead are shuffling together along one dirt road, as if they’re following something. 

“Beca, look.”

Beca sees them and nods. It’s not the biggest hoard they’ve come across, but still not a hoard she’d like to try and fight off without any weapons.

She's seen them move in patterns like this before. Obviously, something or _someone_ , rather has passed by this area for the first time in a long time and somehow drawn attention to themselves.

“I knew that damn Mustang was too loud,” Beca hisses before making a sharp turn in the direction of the Undead. They hiss and growl at the truck as Beca speeds through the grass next to them, tires squelching against the mud, before pulling back onto the road that leads towards a small town. Tall metal fences which once surrounded it have been broken through and knocked to the ground. Beca just prays the townspeople got out before the zombies got in.

An abandoned red Mustang parked in the main street confirms Beca’s suspicions. Chloe and Stacie have been here, and more than likely still are. Yet there’s no a trace of them in sight. 

“Where do we go now?” Emily bites her lips.  
“We follow the Dead,” Beca sighs, as she brings the car to a halt outside a supermarket with one of its window smashed in, she guesses the two girl made a stop here first considering the rest of the shop is boarded up with heavy, wooden planks. She shakes her head, these girls could be literally anywhere in this town. Trying to get them out could be a death mission, considering the amount of zombies that are slowly but surely spilling into the town. if they're still here, and alive, Beca reckons a large gathering of zombies won't be too far away. She turns to her companion who's the reason she's here in the first place.“Do you have your gun?”

Emily nods  
“Then let’s go. Stay close to me, and stay quiet okay?”  
Emily nods once more, and follows Beca out of the car.

 

The torn down town reminds Beca of so many others they’ve passed through on their journey here from Georgia. Each of them as creepy as the other,and zombies hiding around every corner. She’s careful to look the corner of every street, ensuring to avoid any dead ends.   
“Heaven knows how long they’re here,” Emily mumbles as she tries to keep up with Beca’s quick pace. “ What if we’re too late?”  
“We’re not. Look.”

Emily raises her gaze to the body of an Undead lying on the middle of the road ahead of them. A black, metallic stream of blood runs from his forehead and the ground. A knife is lodged so deeply into his skull, only the handle remains visible.

“The blood is still wet, it has to be a recent kill.”

“Yeah, but now they’ve one less weapon!”

Beca grabs hold of Emily’s arm. “Then I guess we need to stop standing around.”

*

“Did you hear that?”

Stacie looks over her shoulder to Chloe who’s looking cautiously at the staircase they’ve just climbed.

“Hear what?” She replies, before resuming to search the drawers of the dresser of the master bedroom they’ve found themselves in.

The entire house smells awful - musty odours eminate from each room, mould covers every corner of every wall and the floorboards have begun to rot from dampness. The sooner they get out of here the better, but she’s also determined to leave this God forsaken town with at least some type of armament- even if it means searching through every house on this street. 

“The noise,” Chloe hisses in response. “From downstairs.”  
“I didn’t hear anything Chlo. Hey maybe you wanna give me hand? Like, can't you search the wardrobe or something?”

Chloe seems to have given up, Stacie can't particularly blame her considering this is the fourth row of buildings they've searched , and they've still managed to find next to nothing. But that doesn't mean she's going to do all the work either.

  
“Stacie! I can hear something! Footsteps I think.”

 Stacie’s had just about enough of Chloe’s complaining for today, she turns on her heels to scorn her companion when she hears a spine-tingling growl from the bottom of the stairs.  
"Holy shit." The brunette quickly peaks her head out of the doorway of the room to catch a glance downstairs , before quickly slamming the bedroom door shut and glaring at Chloe with wide, angry eyes.  
_"Chloe."_ A deep, growl eminates from the very base of her throat.

“What?” Chloe cries, panicked.  
“You left the goddamn front door open!” Stacies hisses back. “Now there’s a whole fucking hoard of them trying to climb up the stairs.”

“What? Where did they come from?”  
Stacie shakes her head. That doesn’t matter now. She needs to find a way out of here, there’s no way they can get down those stairs unharmed.  
“The window,” she mutters. “It’s our only way out.”

Chloe frowns slightly. “It’s a long way to the ground.”  
Stacie lifts the latch and pulls the window open, and studies the ground below her.  
“We have to be careful, so we’ll go one at a time. You need to crawl out onto the ledge and then dangle off it, try to fall down on the window ledge on the floor below- you see it?”  
  
Chloe peaks her head out the window to catch sight of the living room windowsill that Stacie’s directing her towards. She frowns with uncertainty but nods anyway.  
“Good. Then you can just climb down from there, it’s like four feet to the ground.”

Before Chloe can try to argue, there's a pounding on the door outside, and Stacie's pushing her out of the window frame. By the loudness of the growling outside the door, Stacie reckons they've only a minute or two left before a rather large group of zombies break down the wooden door and begin to spill into the room.

"Chloe, please," She begs. The redhead seems to be frozen on the concrete ledge. Stacie knows she's always had issues with heights but at this point she's willing to push her if she doesn't hurry up. A broken leg is still better than being eaten alive.

"Okay, okay," Chloe agrees shakily. She slowly shuffles out to the edge of the sill, and turns onto her front so she can lower herself down. She's gripping onto the edge with all her might, looking down to make sure her feet are in alignment with the downstairs windowsill.

"Chloe!" Stacie shrieks. A loud crash tells Chloe the door has been broken in, and she needs to drop down now if Stacie has any hope of getting out of the bedroom. As her feet meet the living room window and she grabs onto the wall for balance, she sees Stacie pulling herself out on to the ledge upstairs. With a sigh of relief, she turns to hop down from her only window only to find a tight grip on her ankle is preventing her from doing so.

Dark, beady eyes stare into hers. It takes her a second to process to the scar ridden face of the creature that's holding her hostage, before she lets out the shrillest of screams. Instinctively , her free leg delivers a swift kick to the zombie's head, sending the creature on to it's back and it's half-hanging jaw clean off it's face.

"Chloe! Run!" Stacie hollers from upstairs.

It would seem Chloe's scream has drawn attention on to them. Zombies are suddenly appearing from around each side of the house, each of their eyes set firmly on the panicking redhead. Stacie's shouting for her to run again, and Chloe's beginning to realise she has no other option.

As if of their own accord, her legs begin to sprint- carrying her as fast and far away from the cursed house as possible. It's only when she tops for breath two or three minutes later,she realizes she's left her only living friend in the world behind - surrounded by zombies and completely unarmed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some trust is (kinda) established.
> 
> Beca and Chloe make some progress.

 

“Stacie!” Chloe yells, as she dashes back through the streets she just fled. She’s hoping, and praying that she’s not too late.

As she turns a corner , she sees Stacie limping as she tries to outrun a fast approaching zombie a few yards away. If she doesn’t pick up the pace a bit she’s not going to be able to save her best friend - but her there’s sharp pains shooting down her legs, she’s completely out of breath and lightheaded from lack of water. Stacie lets out a plead of help as she trips over her own twisted ankle and falls to the ground, giving the zombie the complete upper hand.  
“Chloe!” Stacie lets out a blood curdling scream as the deadling grabs a hold of Stacie’s ankle. The redhead, now only a couple of feet away,finds herself frozen in place and can only avert her gaze . She refuses to watch her best friend get eaten alive. Tears spill out from her eyelids, and she can feel her soul crushing. She knows this is entirely her fault.

 

The sound of a gunshot ripping through the air is enough to make Chloe’s heart stop beating momentarily. She opens her eyes to see the creature that was advancing on Stacie topple carelessly to the ground - a fresh, bullet wound in the back of its head.   
Meanwhile Stacie’s staring up at her, completely stunned.

 

A scurry of feet turns her attention to the road behind her, where a tall brunette is practically racing towards them.  
“Oh my gosh!” Emily cries, breathlessly. “Are you okay?”  
The teenager rushes to Stacie, offering her a hand to pick her up from the floor.

Following behind her, at a much slower pace, is Beca who looks less than impressed. The small brunette places her pistol back inside its holster on her belt before turning to face Chloe. “You know screaming like that only draws their attention, right?.”

Chloe just stares back at her with an open mouth.

 

Stacie accepts Emily’s hand and rises to make contact with the girl who just saved her.“What are you doing?” She asks in a raspy voice.  
“Saving your ass,” Beca retorts. “What does it look like?”  
“But why?” Chloe manages to find her voice as she joins Stacie. She already suspects that their return has more to do with Emily, who’s still gazing at Stacie with worried eyes, than to do with Beca.

“Look, it’s getting dark, I'd rather save the chit chat for somewhere else” Beca replies rather sharply. “We need to find somewhere to sleep the night. It’s probably not wise to go searching around anymore towns this late in the evening. Did you see anywhere nearby that would be safe for us to crash for the night?”

 

Stacie observes a hitch in Beca’s breathing, and how she winces everytime she raises her hand to the area just beneath her sternum. “Yeah,” she nods. “There was a block of apartments a few blocks away from here. The upstair ones we checked out seemed pretty fine.”

With her own ankle in a bad way, getting some rest is their best option about now.

“Then lead the way,” Beca instructs, as she slings her duffle bag of weapons back over her shoulder.

Emily and Chloe both rush to offer Stacie some support as she begins limping ahead, dragging her injured foot behind her. She graciously accept both their help and leans against them, whilst directing them which way to carry her.

Beca hangs back from the trio, her eyes steady on her once loyal companion who was quick to rush to the strangers’ aid. Her hand is locked around her favourite handgun, ready to aim fire against any threat that comes her or Emily’s way.

 

*

Stacie managed to lead them to a relatively secure apartment, guarded by a thick metal gate she and Chloe had to forcefully yank open before even reaching the front door of the building.  
I’s a relatively small space- consisting of a kitchen, living room, one bedroom and a small living room. But it will do.

Stacie offers the others the chance to freshen up while she prepares a dinner with whatever non perishable foods they have on hand - as a token of appreciation for the girls who saved her life.

Emily devours the food, as though she hasn’t eaten in weeks- complimenting Stacie’s improvised cooking skills the entire time and enthusiastically bombaring Stacie and Chloe with question to find out more about their past lives.

Beca on the other hand remains silent , and when she’s emptied her plate rises from the table without a word and disappears into the living room to take up residence on a decently size leather sofa. Chloe’s eyes narrow and Emily frowns, but nobody says anything.

After a moment, Stacie stands up and takes Emily’s empty plate away from beneath her.  
“Thanks again for the food Stacie, it was great.”  
“It was nothing,” The girl replies. “It’s the least I could do considering you saved my life.”  
“Well that was Beca, not me,” Emily chews on her lip. “She was the one who knew how to track you down.”

“What’s her deal?” Chloe bluntly asks. “Is she always such a bitch?”

“She’s not a -” Emily can feel herself instantly becoming defensive, but decides to try a different approach. Lord knows how much these girls have been through since they last saw them, they don’t need attitude from Emily as well as from Beca. “Look, losing Aubrey was really hard for us. It really took its toll on Beca. She meant a lot to Beca, and Beca doesn’t let people in to her life that easily. Aubrey offered us shelter when we were desperate and I was sick. Beca blames herself for her death, but it wasn’t her fault.” Emily looks shamefully to the ground. “It was mine.”

Chloe quirks an eyebrow. “What happened?”

“She told us she would take us somewhere safe, in Virginia, as soon as I got better. Atlanta was swamped with the undead, but the day we decided to leave it seemed to be even more so. We could find a safe road out of the city so Aubrey told us she knew someway out through the sewers. I was so anxious about underground I didn’t even look where I was running and ran straight into two zombies. I screamed and fell when I tried to run away from them. Beca had to shoot them before they killed me. And then Aubrey suddenly realised she’d forgotten something important, she didn’t say what, at the apartment - she wanted to run back . Beca tried to stop her knowing all the commotion I made would have drawn in a crowd. She didn’t listen. The last thing we heard were her screams.”

Emily’s shaking. She looks back up to the kitchen table, through tear filled eyes to see tears streaming down Stacie and Chloe’s faces.  
“I’m really sorry guys.”

Stacie reaches across and gently squeezes one of her hands. “It’s okay Emily, Bree was always stubborn in her ways. It’s been a long day, I think we should get some rest and aim to get out of this place first thing tomorrow morning.”

 

As they pass into the living room, Emily catches sight of Beca lying flat on her back on the sofa.

“Becs, are you okay?” Emily asks noticing how pale the smaller brunette has suddenly become, and how deep and laboured her breathing sounds.

“I’m fine Em, I just need some rest.”

 

“Take your top off.”

“ _Excuse me?_!” Beca sits up to face Stacie,who’s surprisingly looking down at her with concern.

“Show me the wound. I might be able to help you.”

“I can take care of myself thank you very-“

“Beca,”Emily cuts across her. “She was training to be a doctor. She knows her stuff , let her help.”  
Beca narrows her eyes at her companion. How did Emily know that? What have these people been telling her?

When Beca doesn’t move, Emily rolls her eyes and moves her hand to tug on the end of her shirt. Beca hisses as she slaps her hand away.

“Alright traitor, I can do it myself.”  
Her cold expression softens slightly when Emily looks down on her with her characteristic sad, apologetic puppy eyes.

Beca rolls up her shirt to expose the bloody, adhesive bandage that covers a small patch of skin to the left of her upper chest.

“Beca, when did this open back up?”

“It’s nothing Emily, I just cut it on some glass when we we broke into the jewellery shop earlier.”

“Jesus when’s the last time you changed this?” Stacie mutters as she leans in for a closer look.

“I’ve had other things on my min- _aahhhhh_!” Beca howls out in pain as Stacie rips off the bandage without warning. “ _Dude_!”

“Ugh,”Stacie scoffs, “Don’t be so dramatic. This wound is deep Beca. It needs stitches or it’s going to open up again. I have a first aid kit in my backpack, I can do it for you.”

Beca barks out a throaty laugh. “You think I’m going to let you come near me with a needle?”

“Beca,”Emily snaps. Beca doesn’t miss the apologetic look her companion directs towards the so called doctor. A small flame of fury burns in her chest, she can’t believe Emily would turn on her so quickly . She doesn’t even know these people.

“Ugh I’ve had it with you,” Chloe stands up from her chair on the other side of the room and storms over to them. “I’ve never met someone so rude. Bleed out for all I care, but if you’re going to continue breathing like a crippled donkey, at least have the decency to do it outside so the rest of us can get some sleep.”

Beca’s narrowed eyes switch from Emily to Chloe , and back to Stacie again. “Fine,” she sighs, “just do it fast.”

Chloe regards how the injured brunette bites down on the back of her own hand as Stacie moves the needles towards the exposed, broken skin. As if Beca's attitude wasn't enough incentive to leave the room, the sight of blood certainly was. The redhead lets out a huff and excuses herself before slipping on to the balcony outside the living room. 

*

Emily gently creeps back over to the sofa from the bathroom where she'd been changing her clothes.

“Are you in pain?” She asks as she sits down beside Beca. Beca scowls in response.  
“Oh so you've come back to me. You know I’d actually begun to enjoy my alone time,” she responds coldly.  
“Beca-“

“Em, what are you doing? We’re supposed to be a team.”  
“We are Becs, I’m just worried about you okay? You know as well as I did that the wound didn’t look good. But why can’t they be part of our team too? I think we could work well together. Isn’t that why Aubrey sent us to them?”

“Emily,” Beca groans.  
“Come on Becs, they’re obviously not going to hurt us. We can trust them. Can’t you at least thank Stacie, please?”

Beca hates to admit to herself that Stacie did a pretty good job at stitching her up. She made quick work of it, while making as painless at possible. It was nothing like the hours of torture Beca had envisioned.  There had barely been any blood. Maybe Emily is right about these girls.

“Do you make it your life mission to wound my pride Emily?” Beca groans as she struggles to lift herself from the ground. Emily gives her a small smile as Beca hobbles over to the open door of the bathroom where Stacie's brushing her teeth at the sink 

Stacie puts down her toothbrush upon hearing the petite girl approach and greets her with a smile.

“Yes?”

Beca mutters something barely audible under her breath.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Stacie teases.

Beca rolls her eyes, and looks back at Emily who just nods encouragingly. “I said, thank you. For stitching me up, or whatever.”

 Stacie's pleasantly surprised to hear something genuine in Beca’s tone.

“Well you did save me earlier, so I guess we’re even,” Stacie replies politely. “I’m always happy help Beca, especially if we’re going to continue this journey together. But we can’t do that if there’s no trust between us. Do you trust us Beca?”

“Honestly,” Beca replies, her voice much clearer than before. “No.”

The taller girl's eyes narrow but the brunette continues. “But I’m willing to try.”

“Great,” Stacie smiles, “then I think we can try to trust you too.”

Beca simply nods before turning towards the balcony entrance.  
“Becs, where are you going?” Emily looks at her with genuine concern, as though she’s going to head outside the door and never come back.

“Relax Em, I just need some air.”

*

Chloe looks up as she hears the balcony door click close, and the girl who she's been trying to avoid shuffle awkwardly over to the railing. 

Chloe doesn't understand this girl. She seems to have such an issue with everything and everyone around her, except for Emily of course. Yet she still came back for them, and used up a bullet when she could have easily let Stacie die. She's just as surprised to find Beca actually willing to stay in the same vicinity as her.

“Hello,” she whispers formally. The brunette replies with a nod, but keeps her eyes to the floor.

“So you came back for us.” Chloe tries to break the ice, but there’s little reciprocation from the brunette.

“Yup.” Beca simply replies. "Emily didn't really give me much of a choice."  
"Well at least you're honest."

Beca's hands fiddle inside the pockets of her oversized, khaki coat until she pulls out a slightly crumbled box of cigarettes.

“You want one?” She offers the box to Chloe who's face wrinkles in disgust. “Peace offering.”

“Are you serious? You literally break in through windows, slay the undead and deprive yourself for food and sleep for days on end just to survive, but you still go ahead and toxify your lungs like that?”

Beca snorts. “Suit yourself.”

She grabs her red lighter and lights the stick on her first attempt, wasting no time before taking her first drag.

“For your information, I only smoke when I’m stressed. You try raising a kid though the Apocalypse, and see if you can judge me then.”

Chloe frowns, but tries to suppress the guilt she’s feeling right now. “How long have you been taking care of Emily?”

“I’ve known her all her life. Emily’s mom and my mother were best friends,” Beca explains with an exhale of smoke. “When my mom died, her mom took care of me like I was her own. When everything went to shit, Emily and I were on our way to Georgia together. Her mom rang me, and begged me to take care of Emily, and to do anything I could to keep the two of us alive.”

“Oh wow, that’s really nice of you.”

“Emily’s a sweet kid, I could never let anyone hurt her.”

“She’s lucky to have you then I guess.”

“Mmm, might be the other way around. Emily’s a saint for putting up with my moods.”

Chloe snorts. Emily clearly has the patience of a saint.

"Hey, Red?"

Chloe frowns at the nickname. She was often teased a child for being ginger, so she's not sure whether to take it as a compliment or an insult. Maybe it's neither. "Yeah?"  
"I'm sorry, for being a pain in the ass,and leaving, and whatever. I've lost a lot, you know? I just can't let anything happen to Em. She's all I got left."

Chloe can hear the hint of a threat in her voice, but the fact Beca just genuinely apologized to her seems to overrule that. Having had a sister like bond with Aubrey who was always so quick to defend or protect her, she guesses she can understand Beca's motives.

“Beca?” Chloe whispers after a minute of silence.  
“Yeah?”  
“I’m sorry about your Mom.”

Beca’s lips purse together. “Whatever,” she replies as she extinguishes her half finished cigarette on the wall behind them. “it’s not like any of that shit matters anymore, right? Everyone dies eventually. She was lucky she got out when she did.”

The brunette turns away to head back inside, quietly muttering as she does. "Goodnight, Red."


	6. Chapter 6

Beca’s sleep that night is restless. She finds herself tossing and turning many times throughout the night - without pressing on her stitches too much- to find a comfortable position but it seems hopeless. She’s still not entirely comfortable with the idea of being so vulnerable, and exposed.

Her gun is placed on the floor by the sofa, no more than an arm’s reach away - just in case.

However when she sits up to stretch her aching arms, she notices the absolute silence that has fallen over the apartment. Emily is curled up on the sofa across from her, her chest gently rising and falling with her deep.Behind her, the open door of the bedroom reveals Stacie and Chloe lying a top of the queen sized bed there, sleeping just as soundly.

She rises from the sofa, careful to make as little noise as possible, to stretch her aching legs. Not wanting to cause any commotion by going too far, she opts to take a stroll on the balcony instead.

Beca smiles to herself as the cold mist of the rain outside hits her face. It’s been a while since she last saw rainfall and while she’s never particularly cared for the rain, the zombies seem to despise it even more so. She’s noticed how there tends to be less of them out in the open when it rains. By the looks of the heavily clouded, grey sky above the rain isn’t going to stop anytime soon - perfect weather for travelling long distances.

She notices the drop in temperature- the long awaited chill of Winter has begun to kick in. Hopefully within a few weeks there will snowfall and that should really slow the undead down.

 

“Beca?”  
She hears a voice call from inside. It’s Emily, no doubt, wondering where she’s disappeared to.  
“I’m right here Em,” she responds as she slips back inside.

She’s surprised to find Emily accompanied on the sofa, by Stacie who greets Beca with an unreturned smile.

“Everything okay in here?”  
“Everything’s fine Becs,” Emily chirps back. “Stacie here was just saying how we should hit the road soon. It’s raining outside so we might be able to break some distance.”  
“Is that right?” Beca raises an eyebrow. It appears these girls have more tact than she previously assumed.

 

“Yeah,” Stacie cuts in. “So I guess the real question is, where do we head next?”  
“Well we’re still heading to Vancouver,” Beca shrugs. “I guess it’s up to you guys if you want to go that way too.”

“Vancouver?” Chloe emerges from the bedroom with a puzzled look on her face. “Why? If Canada is still virus free,why not go to Toronto? We’re so much closer.”

Stacie can’t help but notice the pained expression on Emily’s face as she glances anxiously in Beca’s direction.“The military were supposed to be setting up some sort of refuge camp there,” the short brunette sighs.  
“And how do you know this?”  
“I had a pretty reliable source.”

Chloe notices Emily wince at Beca’s response, and decides it may be better not to probe her about it. Not this morning anyway.

“So what’s for breakfast?” Stacie chirps. “We’ve got a few cans of fruit left over.”  
“I’ve some sweet crackers in my bag! We could definitely throw something together.” Emily offers excitedly. The two exit into the kitchen to find plates and cups for water, leaving Beca and Chloe alone in silence.

“How’d you sleep?” Chloe mumbles awkwardly, as she takes a seat on the arm of the sofa.  
“I’ve had better nights,” Beca shrugs. “Stitches are still kinda sore."  
Chloe nods understandingly and Beca realises she's supposed to try continue the conversation. "And you?”  
“Yeah, fine I guess. You were gone this morning.”  
“Yeah, needed some air.”   
“Weren’t you cold outside?” Chloe frowns. "You didn't even bring a jacket with you."  
“I spent a decent portion of my childhood in the mountains of Washington, I’m used to the cold by now.”

Chloe nods, unsure how to respond to one of the first personal pieces of information she’s learned about Beca since their meeting.  
“I’m gonna go change in the bathroom,” Beca tells her quietly, before grabbing her rucksack and leaving the room. "See you at breakfast I guess."

* * *

 

By the time they leave the apartment, the rain has begun to generously pour down.  
Beca carries both her and Emily’s belongings as Emily assists Stacie to walk to the town square where both vehicles were left.

Stacie has assured her that her ankle is already much better than it was yesterday, but Beca’s still not convinced she’ll be able to run far on it should they need to make a quick escape, and to hell if she’s going to let that slow her or Emily down.

Chloe walks beside her, in silence. She appears to be wrapped up in her own thoughts.

 

The town square is deserted, as Beca expected it would be, with not a zombie in sight. She unlocks doors of her blue truck while Emily assist Stacie in climbing into the passenger seat of the other car. Chloe meanwhile is loading Stacie’s bags into the backseat, while suspiciously keeping her own on her back.

When Emily stands back up, Beca tosses the keys into her hands. Emily stares back at her with a frown.

“Em, I need you to drive for a while today. I’m worried about my stitches opening up.”

Beca notices how the teen is awkwardly holding herself, standing closer to the Mustang than the truck, and biting her lip.  
“Spit it out Em.”  
“Umm, Stacie and I were talking earlier-”  
Beca’s eyes narrow. “About?”  
“Now that we’re travelling together, that maybe it’s best we try to get to know each other.”  
“What do you mean Emily?” Beca grits her teeth as Stacie joins them by the truck.  
“We should mix things up a bit. Emily travels with me for this leg of the journey, Chloe can ride with you. I think you could agree there’s a lot of tension that could do with clearing up if we’re in it together for the long haul.”

  
“You’re kidding.” Beca deadpans. “And aren’t we getting a bit too forward here? Nobody said anything about long haul.”  
“Beca, come on,” Emily groans. “Would it kill you to be nice? I’m driving Stacie, and that’s my decision. So either we all travel in the one car or you let Chloe drive the truck with you.”

 

Beca’s not stupid. She knows exactly what’s going on here. This is some coy plan from Stacie who still hasn’t gotten over Beca trying to break away the last time they were on the road together.

She looks over to Chloe, who’s standing awkwardly by the trunk of Stacie’s car. “What do you think about all of this?”  
“I wasn’t particularly fond of the idea when it was first proposed. But Stacie’s right. Besides, it’s not for long right? Just until we reach the next town? That can’t be more than an hour or two away. Right?” The redhead looks to her companion, with anxious eyes, for affirmation. Stacie however ignores the question completely and grins broadly.  
“That’s the spirit Chlo. How about you guys lead the way?”

Beca narrows her eyes as Emily hands the keys to the Chloe who nods.

Beca edges slightly closer to Stacie. “I swear to God, if I see as much as a scratch on Emily, there will be an issue.”

At least she knows she has a redhead to take hostage should any harm come to Emily.

“Beca,” Emily whines before throwing her arms around the older girl and squeezing her into a tight hug. “You need to relax. I can take care of myself. Besides,it's not like we're separating. I’m literally going to be driving behind you the entire time. Can you promise me you’ll be nice to Chloe?”

“Can’t promise, but I guess I can try,” Beca teases, earning an eye roll from Chloe who’s now standing to her right. Beca pulls Emily into a tight hug, learning forward enough to whisper into Emily's ear. "Keep a gun in the car door okay? Honk the horn if there's any trouble and I will be right there."

Meanwhile Chloe is giving Stacie an anxious look. "Are you sure about this Stace?" She whispers low enough so that only Stacie can hear. "We've never split up before-"  
"Chlo, they can shoot better than we can. We need these girls.This is the only way we're going to gain their trust."  
The redhead engulfs her in one last hug, before pulling away.

"Okay, let's get going," Stacie chirps. "We'll see how far we can get in this rain, then find somewhere to search for supplies and somewhere to rest for the night."

Beca slings her duffel bag of weapons into the back of her truck. “You gonna stand there Red, or are you going to hop in? We don’t have all day.”


End file.
